Forgive and Forget
by katiedv
Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget. CB Post 2.25.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later)

Pairing: CB, of course.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

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Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later)

Pairing: CB, of course. I pinky swore in the last chapter. In this one I'm just going to have to reaffirm that it's a CB fic. Dude, I swear!

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: Big-big thanks to Tati for all the beta work, and Nicole for the detective work, and both of them for dealing with my unorthodox writing habits. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I hope you all continue to enjoy.

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**Chapter 3**


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later)

Pairing: CB, of course. I pinky swore in the last chapter. In this one I'm just going to have to reaffirm that it's a CB fic. Dude, I swear!

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: Big-big thanks to Tati for all the beta work, and Nicole for the detective work, and both of them for dealing with my unorthodox writing habits. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I hope you all continue to enjoy.

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**Chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later)

Pairing: CB still

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: Thank you to anyone who reviewed. I always appreciate getting feedback. :-) Very special thanks to Tatiana, who not only got this back to me super-fast, but she had some mean-ass looking Germans trying to stare her off the computer while away on vacation.

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**Chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later)

Pairing: CB. Dan&Blair will be featured for the next few chapters, but the fact that it's a CB fic is something that isn't going to change, it's just taking a little bit of time.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: Big-big thanks to Tati for all the beta work, which was a lot this chapter considering the lenght. I'm sorry I wasn't able to update sooner, but hopefully the lenght of my chapters makes up a little for that minor fact. Also, a few of you told me you didn't get alerts for Ch3 after reading Ch4, so if you might have missed it, remember to read back. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I hope you all continue to enjoy.

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Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later, maybe)

Pairing: CB. Consider DB on its last legs.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: I really, really apologize for this coming so late. I had most of it written before I posted the last chapter, but I wanted to make sure I had at least the next 3 chapters written and structured properly before I posted anything. So one benefit is that you'll be getting the next two chapers fairly soon-ish compared to this one. Life is another thing that has gotten in the way, but I do hope I never have to take this long to update again. Thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter; I did my best to reply to everyone. And again, many, many thanks to Tati for betaing and guiding. :-) I hope you all enjoy.

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**Chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later, maybe)

Pairing: CB. Consider DB on its last legs.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: I made a boo-boo last chapter, and I forgot to thank and credit Tati for the help with the French phrases. Those are all her, since I know all of 10 words in that language, and I assure you they're not enough to get me anywhere. So not only am I grateful that she betas the chapter, she also does those tiny bits for me. Thank you to everyone who reviewed; I will be replying soon :) . If it takes me a little longer to update with the next couple of chapters, it is because I am currently computer-less. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

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**Chapter 7**


	8. Chapter 8

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later.)

Pairing: CB. Consider DB on its last legs - this is the second to last chapter of DB. I only point this out because I know it has a few of you worried. I didn't mistakenly write DB this way and Chuck that way; there's a purpose, and I promise people come to their senses.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: Big thank you to Tati for betaing :-). Thank you to everyone who reviewed :) I did reply, unless it was anonymous. I am still computer-less, so I really haven't written anything new. I want you to know that the last two chapters, this chapter, and the next one coming were originally planned to be one chapter that drew out to four. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and the few of you who are doubting the CB pairing can hang in there. It's coming. :)

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**Chapter 8**


	9. Chapter 9

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later.)

Pairing: CB. Last DB chapter as a couple.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: Big thank you to Tati for betaing, as always :-). Thank you to everyone who reviewed :) I cannot tell you how much I appreciate every one I get, and how I do love getting them. I am so sorry it took me this long to update. The whole chapter was written months ago, practically. There was only one scene keeping me back because it didn't want to write itself. In any case, I am working on chapter 10, but I will warn you that I have signed up for a Rory and Logan fic exchange and I have a CB Christmas fic I'd like to get out (I started it LAST year, so it needs to be out this year).

I do want to say something, since a few of you have come forward to PM me and I figure others might be wondering. I have my fic completely plotted out. My beta helps me work some things out here and there to make sure I'm not writing myself into a hole. You do not need to worry about this writer asking you where you think I should go next, which I feel is a cop-out and a cry for more reviews. And while I love hearing your opinions on how I'm doing, I am not going to deviate my plans for this fic because one reviewer - whose opinion I completely disagree with - thinks I should. I've spoken to several other writers who have the same issue with this one reviewer. I do think that when you write something and put it out there you have to be open to other opinions that might not agree with your views, and I am perfectly okay with that. I only want to put you at ease that I have no plans to pay attention and change my plans around for this person, and that I do welcome all of your opinions and thoughts - this is just an exception that almost all other writers I know of have with this exact same person.

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**Chapter 9**


	10. Chapter 10

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later.)

Pairing: CB. Last DB chapter as a couple.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: I'm very sorry for the wait. Not only did I make you wait for this update, but I also haven't delivered my promised CB Christmas fic. I would have finished it some time ago, except that I've been dying from the flu. Yes, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. My internet at home has failed me recently to boot, so I think I'll just have to give you a belated Christmas present for Valentines day. And, as always, thank you Tati for betaing. She really is wonderful.

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**Chapter 10**


	11. Chapter 11

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: T (will change to M later.)

Pairing: CB.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: There is a French nursery rhyme somewhere in here, titled Le Petit Lapin. Just thought I would mention that. I'm feeling very guilty for the late update, but I swear I have a good list of excuses. One of my bff's returned from Afghanistan after her mom passed away. I also fractured my right fifth metatarsal bone, or my foot in other words; and sprained the left one. Which, you'd think would give me a lot of free downtime to write, but that didn't really happen.

Big thank you to my beta Tatiana. She's always very helpful, but was particularly so with this chapter. :)

I hope you all enjoy.

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**Chapter 11**


	12. Chapter 12

Summary: Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

Rating: M this chapter.

Pairing: CB.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything.

AN: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. I love reading all of your reactions. I will say that I don't think Chuck is all that hateful, although he can be infuriating, lol. But he is trying to make up for his mistakes.

This chapter is rated M, although in my opinion it's not horribly explicit. I know some of you will love that fact, but I'm stating it in case there is anyone out there that won't.

Big thank you to Tatiana. :) She makes sure each one of my chapters is as good as it can get.

I hope you all enjoy. :)

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**Chapter 12**


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** M - I will be changing the rating to M after this chapter, so you won't find it under a T rating after this.

**Pairing:** CB.

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

**AN:** Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. I'm soooo sorry I didn't get to reply yet, but I will. I've been away from home this past month, and I thought I would have time to update, but I haven't had much time to focus on this.

I will say that this chapter is waaaay shorter than I like to write, but my beta wants me to test this lenght for now. I could update more frequently then, no? You wouldn't have to wait my average of 3 weeks for 9,000+ words. You get 3,000+ instead. Although as a reader, I do love to get long, meaty updates, so I don't know. We'll test it out this way; see what a few of you have to say about that. But if you need to blame anyone for how "short" this is, blame Tati. :P

This chapter is rated M, just to be safe.

I hope you all enjoy. :)

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**Chapter 13**


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

**AN:** Okay, I don't know how this updating weekly thing will work, although I will try my best. I know it's a few days late, but at least it didn't take my usual 3 weeks, no? Did anyone else notice how annoying FF is being by removing our section breaks? It's confusing and it looks as if were all one section. I used their page breaks here in this chapter, but they look so ugly, ugh!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I did my best to reply to everyone who left a signed review. And thanks to Tati for betaing.

I hope you all enjoy. :)

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**Chapter 14**


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

**AN:** So obviously the weekly update thing doesn't work for me so much, and I do apologize for making everyone wait. In my defense, I was traveling, then came home to take care of a number of things after being gone for almost three months. This chapter is slightly longer than the last few, so I hope that makes up for my tardiness a little. Thank Ziah for that, since she asked so nicely :) .

Thank you so much for all of the reviews. I love hearing from everyone. And a big thank you to Tati, my wonderful beta.

I hope you all enjoy. :)

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**Chapter 15**


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

**Authors Note: **All I have is my usual excuses. The good news is that the next chapter is finished and I should be able to post it soon enough. And of course, thanks to Tatiana for making this readable. :) Thank you everyone for reviewing. I really love to read what everyone is thinking.

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**Chapter 16**


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

**Authors Note: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I always love reading the different thoughts and reactions. And thank you Tati your genius and betaing this chapter. :P

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**Chapter 17**


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

**Authors Note: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed :) The little bits of French are thanks to the genius of my beta, Tati, who also worked hard to make this chapter much more readable. :P

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**Chapter 18**


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

**Authors Note: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed :) And to my very awesome beta, Tati. :) Erm, I don't know when I'll be able to update next. I am participating in NaNoWriMo, and as it is I am very behind due to a flu. I was going to set this chapter aside for another month, but I knew I wouldn't be able to focus on my novel unless I got this out of the way. I really hope you all enjoy!

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**Chapter 19**


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously don't own anything.

**Authors Note:** Many, many thanks for all your kind reviews. I'm always happy to read everyone else's thoughts, and you were particularly generous in the last chapter. It goes without saying that Tati is an amazing and wonderful beta (she is also posting this chapter for me), but I also got a little bit of input from Noirreigne and nondescript. But Tati got two extra scenes out of me in this chapter, which I think made things more whole. I hope you enjoy.

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Chapter 20


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** M

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously don't own anything.

**Authors Note:** Rating change in this chapter, which I hope everyone is happy with. Tati has been on top of me for this chapter, so it's thanks to her that this finally got done today, and she quickly turned it over so it could be updated. Robin was also kind enough to let me bounce a couple of thoughts her way, for which I am very grateful. Thank you all for all your kind reviews in the last chapter. I really love reading what everyone has to say

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**Chapter 21**


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** M

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously don't own anything.

**Authors Note:** I don't know how to hang on to a finished chapter, so you have that to thank for the earlier chapter. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews. I think I replied to all but a couple of the most recent ones, which I will get to soon. And big-big thanks to Tati for being an awesome beta . I hope this and last chapter make up for some of the waiting you guys have had to do for CB.

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**Chapter 22**


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** M

**Pairing:** CB

**Disclaimer:** I obviously don't own anything.

**Authors Note: **I didn't mean to take this long to update, but since the update before this was super quick, maybe you'll forgive me?

And here's the thing: I will likely not be updating as quickly onto here, and instead doing it onto gossip-fic. net. I started the archive two and a half years ago, but back then people weren't that interested. A year later Noirreigne opened BlairandChuck. net, but it was a lot of work for one person, and she pulled it about a year ago. Well, we've merged the archives and have been hard at work for two months getting it ready and making it pretty. It's open to all pairings, and has a lot of features that I like better to fanfiction. net. We also have an awesome fanfiction forum on there - for both writers and readers, so I would invite you guys to check it out and maybe consider posting your GG fanfiction on there. The link is in my profile, as well as Noirreigne's profile.

So as you see, I may have taken long to update, but I've been putting the time and energy onto something good. :)

As always, thank you so much for your wonderful reviews. :) And thanks to Tatiana for getting this chapter back to me so super-fast.

If I had chapter titles, this one would be _**Aimee at The Palace**_. I hope you all enjoy.

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**Chapter 23**


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** M

**Pairing:** Chuck and Blair

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

Tati is a wonderful beta, and for that I thank her. I wasn't going to post here anymore, but I'm doing it for the few of you that really followed this fic for a long time, and don't have it alerted on Gossip-Fic. Chances are it won't stay here, so if you want, you should probably head over there, because there are more chapters posted there.

ETA: The link to Gossip-Fic is in my profile, although you can google it. I am only uploading chapters 24 and 25 here. Chapters 20 through 25 are at Gossip-Fic.

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**Chapter 24**

One of the benefits of going to bed before sundown was that you'd likely be up in time to see the sun rise. When Chuck first opened his eyes, the skyline was dark with a faint blue hue telling him that he had made it in time. Keeping his head on his pillow, he observed Aimee and Blair as they continued to sleep. Aimee had pushed her parents away to each edge of the bed, the summer heat having its effect as she did what she had to do to stay cool while remaining in bed with two other people.

Both girls were facing him, and he scooted himself lower on his pillow to observe Aimee as close as he could. She was just so perfect with her little button nose and hers small baby lips that still formed an _O_. She had long eyelashes that curled perfectly at the tips and his straight eyebrows. She was a perfect, angelic-looking little princess. At least she _looked_ angelic, because anyone who knew her well enough knew what kind of a terror she could turn into in a blink of an eye. Just like Blair.

He chuckled to himself and glanced at Blair, still sleeping peacefully. She seemed so tired since the pregnancy, and he wondered how much of that was normal, or if she was depressed at times. But her mood was lighter since their trip to Lyon, even with the whole wedding thing looming over them. And he knew that it was different now when she let Aimee sleep between them. That it was because that sweet child really pulled at her heartstrings and because she wanted to sleep through the night as much as she could while still being able to be there for Aimee; not to keep him away.

With that in mind, he gently crawled out of his corner of the bed and circled it as he walked towards Blair's.

Blair felt the bed shift. "Hmmm?" she hummed, knowing it was Chuck but wondering how much of her attention he needed. Did she have to get up, or could she get away with remaining in bed with her eyes closed?

"Scoot over towards the middle," he whispered, pulling the sheets over himself as he crawled in behind Blair.

The morning was cooler than the night had been, and his body cradling hers added a pleasant warmth. She let her body mold to his and stayed in place for a while. When she opened her eyes, she could see the dark blue of the sky fading and letting some light in through the shades.

"I can't believe she's slept this long," Blair whispered.

"I know," he replied, also whispering.

"Has she gotten up to go to the bathroom?" she wondered. "I don't want her to have an accident."

"She woke me up in the middle of the night, and I took her. I'm surprised you didn't wake up."

She turned in bed to face him and let his arm keep her cradled close to him. "I don't even remember falling asleep," she admitted, stifling a giggle.

"I bet you didn't. I walked out of the bathroom not 15 minutes later, and you were snoring," he said, a little less quietly.

"Shhhh!" she giggled, trying to remind him to stay quiet. "I don't snore," she replied indignantly.

He bent down and kissed her shoulder, having a better idea than arguing in mind. He reached down to raise her nightgown.

"Chuck!" she admonished him.

"What? I just want to feel your thighs," he tried to reason. "You know, there's a spare bedroom," he reminded her.

Blair thought about it for a split second. "What are you saying?"

He didn't have to say anything. It was unspoken, but plain to see in his eyes.

"She might wake up when we get out of bed," Blair whispered.

"I doubt it. She didn't wake up when I got up. Just get up really slowly. Besides, she's at the other end of the bed, she won't feel a thing."

He crawled out from under the sheets slowly, and when Aimee didn't stir, he helped Blair up. Hand in hand, they tiptoed out of the room and onto the spare bedroom like children sneaking around on Christmas morning.

They didn't waste time. He pulled her on top of him as they kissed, hoisting her nightgown up to her hips as he dipped his fingers inside her panties and pulled her center towards his hardness. Straddling him, she was in control, quickly working to undress him. Lucky for him, her panties tied at the hip, making his job easy.

"Keep the gown," he said, loving how she'd always used to dress for him in the bedroom.

She complied, glad she could get some use out of it while it still fit. She let him flip them over, and was more than pleased when he used his tongue to lap at her wet heat.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before they heard Aimee's cries.

"Ma-aaaaaaaaah!" she wailed. "Maaaaamaaaaaaaan!"

"Oh, shit!" Blair hurriedly pulled away from Chuck and sat up, accidentally kicking him in the face as he also tried to sit up.

"Fuck!" he brought his hand to his nose, but Blair took no notice.

"Where's my underwear?" she asked, looking around the sheets and comforter for them.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Aimee screamed from the master bedroom.

"I'm coming, baby! I'm coming," Blair yelled and ran out of the room once she heard the panic in Aimee's voice.

When she walked into the suite, she saw Aimee sitting up in the middle of the bed, her face red with large tears rolling down her cheeks, and Blair's heart broke.

"Maman!" Aimee cried, her arms outstretched.

"It's okay, my love. We're right here." She quickly walked towards her, and Aimee crawled to the edge of the bed to meet her and hug her tightly.

"Mummy," she whimpered, lowering her head on her mother's shoulder, wanting to be soothed.

"Oh, you poor baby. We're right here," she reassured her. "Don't cry. Did you wake up cranky?"

Aimee didn't answer, instead letting Blair's soothing presence and warmth calm her. Soon, she was relieved to see her father at the doorway, and she whimpered, prepared to start the waterworks again for his benefit.

Instead, Blair threw her down on the bed and tickled her in an effort to make her forget her ordeal, however imaginary. Aimee couldn't help but giggle and squirm, her tears forgotten.

"Is your tummy hungry?" she asked her, hearing the grumble.

"Yeah," Aimee nodded. She should be; she'd slept almost 12 hours straight.

"Why don't you ask daddy to send us up some breakfast?" she pretended to whisper to her.

Chuck observed them, leaning on wall as he appreciated their exchange. He was still annoyed and frustrated from their interruptions, but he found it hard to stay mad when he saw how innocent and unaware Aimee was.

They enjoyed breakfast in their suite's large dining room, served by the hotel staff. It was pretty blissful, neither of them arguing over the sugar content of Aimee's chocolate pancakes (full of whip cream and drenched in syrup), not to mention the rich hot chocolate with which she accompanied them. And she was just so happy having her breakfast that it was infectious.

They were still in their robes when they heard Eleanor's voice barking orders from the living room.

"Just move it – move all of the furniture out of the way. That table – get rid of it and have management replace it. It's got sharp corners, and the baby can trip and hurt herself. Yes, line the racks of dresses against that wall. Careful with them! They're not samples! Goodness…"

Blair tightened her robe around her as she walked through the doors that opened to the living area.

"What is this redundancy in design? It's like you have two identical living rooms side by side. It's ridiculous," Eleanor complained.

"Mother, it's barely 7 o'clock." Blair walked towards Eleanor to greet her.

"I know, darling, but I knew you'd be up," she kissed her daughter. "Besides, we have so much to do. You still have to try on the dresses and pick one for you and for Aimee, and we need to fit you for the alterations, and we have _such_ a short window of time," Eleanor said without taking a breath. "You didn't forget about lunch with your grandmother, did you?" She didn't give Blair time to answer. "Don't worry about a thing. Olga and Dorota are on their way upstairs. They're going to make sure you're all set up and unpacked and that the kitchen is fully stocked."

"Mom, we're not even dressed…" Blair began to say.

"Well you don't need to be dressed. You're going to be putting and taking off dresses in a minute. All you have to have on is underwear – you are wearing underwear, right?"

Blair sighed, her mother's blabbering getting to her. She turned away from Eleanor, figuring it was best for her to just go and get ready for the day ahead.

"Olga, Dorota – finally," Eleanor sighed in relief, ready to put the women to work. "Dorota, dress Aimee for the day and make sure everything is unpacked properly while Olga clears the table and organizes the pantry." She called out to Blair, "I'm sure Charles can dress himself. Doesn't he have things to do in his office?"

"Yes, I'm sure Charles can dress himself," Lily spoke as she walked through the foyer with an annoyed and heavily pregnant Serena following behind her. "And he has things to review in the office. I'm here to make sure his suit won't clash with Blair's dress choice, as we'll be selecting it this afternoon." The annoyance was clear in Lily's voice.

"Lily," Eleanor greeted her with a tight look on her face. "What a surprise."

Lily let out a fake giggle as she made herself comfortable, not waiting for Eleanor to ask her to do so. "Yes, well, I'd be surprised too if I had kept this appointment from _you_. But don't worry," she said sarcastically. "There are no hard feelings. It _must_ have been an oversight on your part – or on your assistant's, right?"

"Right," Eleanor retorted, annoyed and not sure if she wanted to hide it. She turned away from Lily and Serena, getting back to business – or at least _her_ business. "Charles?" she called out. "I need you to go away…" she said as she walked out to the hallway towards the bedroom.

"Gamma, looky my woom!" Aimee pulled her into her bedroom, wanting to show it off.

Dorota was putting an outfit together for her young charge when Eleanor walked in the room.

"Ugh, to get away from that woman," she hissed under her breath. "She has been insufferable lately."

She helped Dorota dress Aimee and put her hair up in a ponytail to keep it from sticking due to the heat. By the time they walked out, the room was full of flower arrangements and Chuck was perusing the racks of bridal gowns.

"What is all this?" she demanded to know. "It looks like a funeral parlor in here!"

"Tatie Sewena!" Aimee greeted her happily with wide open arms.

"Aww, you are a sweetheart!" Serena hugged Aimee to her side, her extended belly in the way of giving her a proper hug at nine months. "You remember me? Look at how _pretty_ you look. I love your pretty shoes," she cooed at her.

"These are the flower arrangements for the wedding. I want Blair to look at them and make the final choice."

"Your job was to take care of this," Eleanor said between clenched teeth.

Lily kept her usual, unperturbed serenity about her. "A woman's flower arrangements for her wedding need to be timeless and personal. I can't possibly make the final decision without taking her into consideration. All she has to do is point to the ones she likes best, and the rest will be taken care of."

"Charles!" Eleanor tried to stop him from looking at the gowns. "You are _not_ supposed to see these. Go away!"

"Don't let her wear the tulle," he said to her, barely above a whisper. "She'll look like a piñata – but don't tell her I said that. Just get rid of it. Besides, I don't think she'll like it, anyway."

"Don't you have work to do?" Eleanor asked, completely annoyed at the chaos and loss of control.

"I do. I'll be back later. Ladies," he turned to the van der Woodsen's. "Thank you for all your help. I'll see you later," and he began to walk away.

"Non-non-non!" Aimee stomped her feet and cried, letting them know she was ready for a tantrum if that's what it took to get her way. "No bah-bye, daddy!"

Just then, as if there wasn't enough activity going on in the room, Blair appeared.

"Okay, I'm ready." Her face fell quickly. "Oh… Serena. What a surprise. Lily, how lovely to see you." She greeted the older woman much more warmly, but still tried to go out of her way to not let any of her confused feelings towards Serena show.

Aimee was whimpering, begging her father to pick her up as she pulled on his suit. "Daddy! Daddy, peas!" She pulled on his tie, and that's what finally made him give in and pick her up.

"Why is she so clingy?" Eleanor whispered to Blair. It wasn't 8am yet, and already her mood had been soured.

"Blair, sweetheart," Lily said. "I had the florist deliver these arrangements because I wanted you to take a look at them and decide on a style. I was just telling Eleanor that I was sure you wanted to pick them yourself."

"Aw, well that's so thoughtful of you," Blair said, touched by Lily's involvement. "They're all so lovely…"

They were beautiful – perfect even.

"Serena worked very closely with the florist. I knew she'd know your taste in flowers perfectly," Lily smiled.

_Ugh_. Blair sighed. Well, she did remember her taste quite well…

"Blair," Lily smiled at her. "You look so lovely expecting. When are you due?" she asked.

"Um… New Years," she coughed, "around New Years."

Lily did the math in her head. "Oh, so it can be a couple of weeks before or a couple of weeks after, right?"

"…Yes, I suppose so," Blair replied, sighing away the tension of her lie.

"She was two weeks early with Aimee, so maybe she'll be a little early with this one too," Eleanor added. "You're a little bigger than I expected you to be," Eleanor said to Blair.

Chuck pulled Blair away to whisper in her ear. "Why did you tell your mom you're due in January?"

"Shh! She'll hear you!" she hissed at him.

"What are your plans when she finds out you delivered a ten-pound preemie?" he asked.

"I'm not having a ten-pound preemie!" Blair hissed.

"Charles," Eleanor huffed. "You were leaving?" she tried to prod him out of the room.

"Eleanor is right, Chuck." Lily said, and Eleanor knew she did it to annoy her. "Blair's going to be trying on dresses soon, and we don't want to spoil the surprise."

"Non! No bah-bye, daddy!" Aimee cried, knowing they were trying to kick her father out of the room.

"Let me take her with me," he said to Blair.

"We have to fit her for a dress," Eleanor reminded them.

Blair was a little torn. She knew picking a dress and flower arrangements would be hard with Aimee, but with a temperamental Aimee it would be even harder. "Hmmm, yeah. Why don't you take her with you? I have her measurements written somewhere. We can go by those. You want to go with Daddy?" Blair asked her.

"Yeah," Aimee nodded. "Bah-bye," she told her.

Chuck walked a little closer and tentatively placed his free hand at Blair's waist, gently pulling her closer. "So we'll see you later?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, just a little breathlessly, the unfulfilled need for him coming to the surface with the warmth from his body radiating to hers.

"Bah-bye!" Aimee waved at everyone, unknowingly diverting everyone's attention. She wanted to get out and explore, and she knew a quick exit before her _bonne-maman_ remembered wanting her to stay would be best.

"I'll bring her back," Chuck promised. "We'll just be downstairs. Kiss mommy bye-bye, Aimee."

Aimee leaned in and kissed her mother. "Bah-bye, maman," she said, making a point of going away with her daddy.

"Bye-bye, my love," Blair kissed her again. "You be a good girl, okay?"

"I'll see you soon," Chuck said and, without giving himself time to think, he leaned in to place a kiss on Blair's cheek.

Blair moved to offer him her right cheek, and along the way they fumbled and their lips met. It was a quick, accidental peck, and for a second they hesitated. But without any thought they kissed again, quickly, but more naturally this time.

Blair tried to pull away and cleared her throat. "Bring her back up by eleven. I want to have time to dress her up properly before we visit Granny. And have the car ready for us," she said brusquely, trying to hide the effect he was having on her from everyone else.

But nobody seemed to take notice, at least not of their awkwardness. They just smiled at witnessing a tender exchange between the couple, thinking nothing of the effort it took for them to be comfortable showing and accepting each other's affection.

Chuck didn't pull away, completely ignoring her tone. "I will." He bent down and kissed her one more time. "Don't pick that sheath," he said. "It's not you."

"Really?" Blair replied, being pulled back in by his interest. "I thought you'd like how fitted it was."

He shook his head. "It's not special enough to be your wedding dress. Wear it to the rehearsal, though," he winked, before finally turning away and excusing himself from the room.

* * *

Mrs. Cornelia Helena Waldorf, _nee_ Barclay, was quite a spectacular figure. At 73, you could still tell she'd once been quite strikingly beautiful. A very petite woman, she was careful even at her age to let inactivity take over and give her a frumpy shape. She'd long retired from society, being of the mind that it should be ran by a younger crowd rather than old matronly women set in their ways, and had left for the south of France despite keeping her townhouse with a full staff as if she'd be expected to walk in the door any minute.

In her day, she'd been the example of a contemporary woman who knew how to navigate the strict protocols of Manhattan society. She'd once taught a younger Eleanor what a real socialite was: a woman that marked her own path without her husband as a crutch, and managed to have it all and do it all while being on the board of every important foundation in the island.

She looked down on the modern definition of a socialite, once proudly saying out loud about her daughter-in-law, "Waldorf women are not _socialites!_" when a journalist asked on her thoughts of Eleanor launching her own fashion line. Eleanor had always admired her and their shared ideas; had done whatever she had to do to exemplify that model of a woman.

"It's a beautiful ring," she said to Blair, admiring her hand. "May not be what some expect, but what's important is that it belonged to his mother. It's unfortunate how common those Tiffany settings have become, but the design is beautiful, and the stone is impeccable."

"Thanks, Granny." Blair took her hand back and used it to raise her teacup to her lips. They had enjoyed a light lunch, and were now being treated to tea with all sorts of treats surrounding them. So much for the _light_ lunch…

Blair reached for another petit four, but saw her mother's disapproving face across from her and dropped it on Aimee's plate instead.

"Well, I for one am relieved you're marrying him, even if you did have to go about it this way," Mrs. Waldorf said.

"What do you mean?" Blair asked, a little appalled at her grandmother's insinuation. She knew her grandmother to be straight and to the point, but she wasn't quite sure she'd heard right. She reached for yet another petit four, this time not caring what her mother might think, and bit into it.

"Blair!" Eleanor cried. "The _dress_," she said as a stern reminder.

Blair sighed, not sure she cared right now if the dress fit.

"Oh, honey, I don't care that you got pregnant again to seal the deal. I'm just glad that he is accepting his responsibility, and that socially you and that little girl don't have to continue to suffer the ramifications of his poor choices."

Blair's face fell. Did her grandmother really think so lowly of her? "But Granny, I didn't…"

"You don't need to lie for my sake," the older woman shook her head. "Honey, what's important is that it's happening."

"But…" Blair didn't know what was worse: admitting to her grandmother that this pregnancy was even more an accident than the first, or letting her believe she did it to trap Chuck into finally marrying her.

"Oh, you know young people these days. They're so impulsive that they just pick up where they left off and completely forget about handling things properly," Eleanor explained the situation as much as she'd been able to rationalize it herself.

"That's got to be one of the quickest reconciliations I've heard of in my life. How far along are you?" the older woman wondered, eyeing Blair carefully.

"Ah…"

"She's due around New Years," Eleanor quickly answered, excited at the prospect of a holiday baby, not knowing the truth about exactly how long Blair had been pregnant for.

"Hmm… She looks a little farther along, don't you think, Eleanor? Maybe they're twins…"

Eleanor gave Blair a close look. "Yes, it could be. I'd thought it was just the fact that she has such a small frame, and it's a second pregnancy. Blair, your 20 week ultrasound should be coming up, right?"

"Um, yes?" She took a sip of tea, not wanting to tell them that milestone was long past, that she wasn't having twins, and it was one, sole, average-size baby that wouldn't let them see its private parts.

"Aren't there other ways for them to check for twins now?" her grandmother wondered.

Eleanor nodded, knowing from experience. "They can pick it up in the first ultrasound."

"Well, I think that's very odd," Mrs. Waldorf said. "Don't let yourself go, my dear," she warned. "Fat girls look so frumpy, and you're so petite," she said, speaking too frankly.

Blair wanted to gag, the idea of being referred to as fat triggering that old reaction.

And with that same ease of frankness, she moved the subject along. "I hope you're not considering that foolishness of hyphenating your name," Mrs. Waldorf stated. "I don't understand why these so called modern women do it. I mean, why marry at all, then, when so many couples now decide to cohabitate? With the divorce rate what it is, I'd think they'd consider it an easier option."

Eleanor observed Blair sigh deeply, as if it was something that bore down on her, before answering.

"No, I'll be a Bass," Blair replied.

"You don't sound too excited about it," Mrs. Waldorf said. "Be happy you are. Couples where the husband's name is either hyphenated or not adopted at all tend to have a higher divorce rate."

Blair sighed again. "No, it's not that. I guess I hadn't thought about what it would mean to stop being a Waldorf."

"Don't be so sad, my dear. Once a Waldorf, always a Waldorf. Just ask your mother," the older woman joked, but there was kindness in her words. "And you, Miss Aimee," she turned to humor the young child. "Aren't you glad you'll finally have your father's name?"

Aimee didn't know what the old woman's words meant, but she was more than delighted with her. She'd gifted her a doll and a porcelain tea set, which she'd had the maid serve for her with hot cocoa from Nice and petit fours from Versailles. They sat her in an old French ottoman and propped her in front of the coffee table to avoid ruining the old, Persian carpet.

She smiled as she observed the child, not minding that her mouth was totally covered in chocolate and might be viewed as unseemly for a child that is out for a visit to an elder relative. "You know, I thought she'd inherited some of that Barclay beauty when she was a baby, but you can tell she looks like her father's family. The mother in particular," she observed.

"You remember Evelyn Bass?" Blair asked, surprised.

"Very little," answered Mrs. Waldorf. "Her husband was trying to get her into society before she passed. But the Basses weren't worth back then what they are now. I can't say she lived long enough to leave much of an impression on society," she said rather regrettably. "But she was a very beautiful woman. I'd say Charles gets most of his looks from her, and so has your child. Now, onto more serious matters," she changed the subject. "There is the matter of your marriage settlement."

"My marriage settlement?" Blair wondered.

"Consider yourself a very lucky only child – at least on your father's side. I am of the opinion that a woman should be financially independent of her husband. Your mother has been a perfect example of this. No woman should depend on her husband financially, but you should also know how to spend his money," she winked at Blair. "Your grandfather and I set up a trust that would be turned over to you at the time of your marriage. With your father's lifestyle being what it is, and you being our only grandchild, there will be more coming your way some day." She handed Blair a portfolio. "Here you are. I've signed it over to you, and it will all go into effect on your birthday in a couple of months. I was going to transfer it over to you this year, actually," she laughed. "I was beginning to lose hope, and you still had a child to take care of. Although I know you've done quite remarkably for yourself in your mother's company."

Blair studied the documents, not quite believing the figures written. "Granny! I don't know what to say…" It was a figure well into the nine digits. She had always had a pretty good idea of what the family holdings were, but that such a nice amount of them would be in her name was something she would never have expected.

"A simple _thank you_ is enough. It was meant to be yours all along."

"Thank you!" Blair hugged her grandmother, grateful for the gesture more so than for the amount of money. She had no need for money. What was a mere $256 million for a girl that was marrying a billionaire?

"You're welcome, my dear. Don't spend it all in one trip to Bendel's," she teased her. "Now, as for your wedding present…"

"My wedding present? I thought this was it," she said, astonished.

"That was just a part of your inheritance that your grandfather and I had decided you should receive when you married. Your wedding gift is meant to come from the Waldorf and Astor jewelry vaults."

And so it was. Her grandmother's jewelry vault was set out for her in a corner of the room.

"In the past, most of the girls borrowed some of the jewelry for their wedding, but as luck would have it, the number of Waldorf's entitled to these has dwindled. You're welcome to keep whatever you'd like to wear on your wedding day."

Blair opened the vault, and her eyes couldn't focus on any one thing out of so many magnificent pieces. She recognized many that she'd at one point seen her mother wear on special occasions, and many which had adorned her grandmother through the years. The famous Waldorf family jewels – many of which were known to have come from the dethroned Russian Imperial family over a hundred years ago.

"Pearls are traditional for a wedding," her grandmother said, pulling out the set Eleanor had chosen to borrow for her own wedding. "But I don't like them because they also signify tears. Personally, I chose rubies. They're intense and vivid; fire and passion. Some believe they signify bliss and unity. It's also known as a fertility stone."

Blair pulled out the set her grandmother had worn for her wedding. It was a beautiful parure of rubies. _Intense and vivid; fire and passion_.

"With your coloring," Eleanor said, "they would be perfect."

Mrs. Waldorf smiled at the choice. "Indeed."

Something caught her eye, lying in a box beneath the one that housed the rubies. "Oh, a butterfly," Blair pulled it out, not being able to fight off the impulse.

"Oh, that old thing," her grandmother noted. "It's a brooch that can be turned into a necklace or diadem."

"This," was all Blair said. "I want this."

"Darling, I don't think that matches the rubies," her grandmother said, with a hint of disappointment.

"But there are rubies encrusted in the butterfly," Blair said.

She wasn't trying to justify combining each set. She was stating that she would still be wearing rubies for her wedding.

"I think that butterfly is too large for you to wear it as a necklace. It would be tacky to wear such a thing hanging from your neck on your wedding day," Mrs. Waldorf said disapprovingly.

"No, not as a necklace; as a diadem. I already have a necklace in mind at home," she said to them, thinking of that gift Chuck made her on her 17th birthday, which only reminded her more of those _butterflies_.

She clipped the brooch with the base and admired it. She looked up at the mirror as she pretended to place it where her veil would be pinned.

"Yes, this is it," she smiled.

* * *

The days were flying by, and as peacefully as she'd been able to sleep the first two nights, she'd barely been able to shut her eyes on Thursday. They would have a very busy Friday ahead of them, with the rehearsal dinner and final preparations before that. And then it would be Saturday, and the wedding day would be here.

Serena had hosted the wedding shower on the rooftop of the Baizen penthouse, a gift to the young couple from Carter's grandparents, and a formal _F-You_ to his father after their most recent family fallout. Everyone was absolutely impressed that Serena had not only managed to pull it off in the most fantastic manner, but that she'd done it a whole week past her due date – and in Louboutins! There were still a few moments that Blair felt that the fact that she was the bride and therefore the one that was supposed to be showered with attention escaped guests, but she had to admit that Serena did try to make Blair feel welcomed. Still, she felt like something was missing.

She was glad it ended early, even though they'd been forced to stay longer out of familial obligation. Somehow an afternoon wedding shower turned into the rehearsal dinner to the rehearsal dinner, with Lily and Eleanor bickering more, about everything from the guest list…

"_I will not have some C-list musician at my daughter's wedding to help your husband's boy-band career that never took off," Eleanor huffed._

_Lily gasped at the insult, as if it had been directed at her own person. "Nelly is not a C-list musician! What have you been living under, a rock? Rufus was going to have him sing 'Just a Dream' to them!" Lily exclaimed, completely ignoring the sad story the song told._

To the size of the corsages…

"_You obviously did it on purpose, Lillian!"_

"_Eleanor, I did not! You were the one that picked the peonies for your corsage and left me hydrangeas. It's not my fault my flower creates a fuller and lovelier corsage than yours."_

"_I am the mother of the bride. You – you are just the former step-mother!"_

_Lily cried in surprise. "Eleanor! I can't believe you just said that! I adopted him! I have thought of Charles like any one of my children!"_

The only thing they seemed to agree on was the menu.

While Rufus and Cyrus left the women to sort out their differences, they were out in the terrace making sure their young children didn't break anything inside Serena's home or jump over the penthouse terrace.

That left the two younger couples in the awkward position of having to entertain each other despite the strained friendships. Fortunately for them, their children – born and unborn – were there to provide the entertaining.

"Put your sippy cup on Aunt Serena's tummy," Carter instructed Aimee.

They'd been playing that game for the past hour, and Aimee had yet to tire of it. She waited for the magic trick to happen with the anticipation of a toddler that can't possibly comprehend the science behind it. The contents of the clear plastic cup begun to move, and Aimee giggled despite Serena's groan at the hard kicks from within her.

"It's the baby moving it," Carter tried to convince her.

"Noooooooo," Aimee said, giggling and in total disbelief.

"Yeah; come here," he pulled her up to his lap, placing her directly next to Serena's. He placed the little hands at different points of Serena's abdomen. "See? That's the baby moving inside."

Aimee pulled her hands away, giggling at the sensation of something moving under her hand.

"Go try it on your mommy. Her baby should be moving, too," Carter set her on her feet, and Aimee ran to her mother's growing baby bump to see if it also moved.

Blair turned to Chuck and saw him smiling at Aimee in wonder. He seemed so happy and relaxed. As if there was nothing weighing him down; nothing running through his mind, making his thoughts wander hers.

When they got to their suite, it was past 10 o'clock at night and Aimee had fallen asleep on the ride over. For the first night since their arrival, Aimee would be sleeping in her own bed. They made sure she was comfortable enough to sleep through the night. When Blair finally got into bed herself, she positioned herself facing away from him, knowing well that he'd come chasing after her, which was just where she wanted him.

Chuck reached for her, his warm breath on the back of her neck as he spooned her. It usually drove her wild with want for him, but now she was conflicted. Did she listen to her body and give in, or did she listen to that little voice in her head that told her she needed to retreat and keep a distance?

He didn't force anything on her, instead running his hands under her short silk nightgown to cup her belly.

"You're showing so much more," he said, kissing her shoulder, the happiness evident in his light voice. "I can't believe how fast the baby is growing," he said in wonder.

They were laying there, just the two of them, with a little baby on the way. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, for a moment believing this was their first baby and that he hadn't missed a thing.

"It feels like butterflies," he said.

She smiled, carried away by her thoughts. "It's a lot stronger than that," Blair said, letting herself enjoy the moment.

"How was it with Aimee?"

The question snapped her back to reality, and she froze.

"What?"

"When did you first start feeling Aimee move?" he wondered, wanting to know all the things he had missed. "You said you were showing less, right?"

She didn't answer, feeling the brick wall rise inside of her.

Chuck continued whispering in her ear, holding her as close as was physically possible even though he could sense her pulling away as her body tensed under his hand.

"I turned down the thermostat so I could hold you close tonight. Besides, Aimee sleeps better when it's not stifling hot. Hopefully it'll help her sleep through the night. And maybe…"

Blair read his mind. She released a voluntary yawn. "I'm so tired. I can't believe we stayed out so late. I didn't even get the chance to nap…"

Chuck sat up enough to reach her cheek and kiss her. "That's right; you didn't nap," he said, feeling guilty for wanting more tonight.

He couldn't help but crave more of that closeness and intimacy they'd been missing. And he wanted her – so much. He could always try to seduce her out of sleep, but something told him that it would just be callously selfish if he did. He just knew how tense things must be for her with the wedding being so sudden.

"Are you ready for Saturday?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered quietly, not thinking too much about her answer. "Are you?" she suddenly wondered.

"I'm happy," was his answer. "I hope you're happy with how the wedding turns out. I know it's not ideal, since we only had a month to put it together."

"Two more days and this madness will be over," she replied, sighing as if it was more of a burden than a once-in-a-lifetime dream event.

They were quiet after that. There was so much he wanted to say to her – so much he wanted to ask her – but something inside him told him to stay quiet or he might not like her answer.

He sat up high enough to see her, and she turned up to face him. He kissed her again. "Go to sleep," he said. "You have two more days of madness to live through."


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary:** Sometimes, without realizing it, we inflict our own punishments. At other times, we feel entitled to inflict them on others. All the while we ignore that we must learn to forgive and forget.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Chuck and Blair

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own anything.

**Authors Note: **Tati is a wonderful beta, and for that I thank her. I wasn't going to post here anymore, but I'm doing it for the few of you that really followed this fic for a long time, and don't have it alerted on Gossip-Fic. Chances are it won't stay here, so if you want, you should probably head over there, because there are more chapters posted there.

ETA: The link to Gossip-Fic is in my profile, although you can google it. I am only uploading chapters 24 and 25 here. Chapters 20 through 25 are at Gossip-Fic.

* * *

Chapter 25

That Thursday night had been eternal for Blair, barely getting any sleep, and Friday was just never ending. Eleanor was the only one present to give an opinion at that morning's fitting, and given the argument they had gotten into over the choice of dress, she only added to the stress of the day. At least they could all agree on Aimee's dress – including Aimee, who threw a fit when they removed it to preserve it for the big event.

Time flew for Eleanor and Lily, who were forced to make do with the short time given to execute a wedding befitting their social status. It felt like only yesterday they'd started bickering about planning and dividing up the arrangements. Eleanor had been quite adamant that as the mother of the bride, and as the bride's parents paid for the wedding, it was her right to do as she saw fit. Lily had argued that Eleanor wanted to make it a matter of money, Charles would be more than pleased to pay for the whole thing in order to ensure that both families were equally represented in the execution of the event. Eleanor then proceeded to remind Lily how _new money_ it was to flaunt one's wealth at such a sacred event as the consecration of a marriage.

They only agreed to stand back when Celia and Cornelia reminded each that while the parents of the bride were indeed in charge of the reception, it was the groom's parents that hosted the rehearsal dinner. With that, Lily threw herself wholeheartedly into the preceding event. And when word got out to Eleanor of how much more elaborate Lily's would be, she could not help but stick her nose in it and demand that Lily backtrack and make the dinner more low-key than the reception. Lily accepted the intrusion, but only if Eleanor agreed to her input in the wedding preparations. It was a half-assed truce between the women, and one that just barely kept things civil between them.

Among the many points of contention included the coordination and order of the events. It wasn't just a matter of taking the formal portraits before or after the ceremony, but of holding the dinner before or after the rehearsing.

"I can't believe you would do this!" Lily exclaimed. "You've done it on purpose to sabotage _my_ event! Everyone is going to think this was all my doing. Who in the world would consider that it makes perfect sense to hold the rehearsing after the dinner?" she cried. "It is not the dinner rehearsal; it is the rehearsal dinner!"

Eleanor sighed, remarkably unperturbed by Lily's outburst. "If you'd only agreed to hold the dinner a little later tonight, we wouldn't have been in this predicament," she answered, almost too calmly. "Had we rehearsed before, we would have interrupted the Friday evening service. And we would have been late for dinner. Imagine all the angry dinner guests, waiting around for us to finish rehearsing…"

Lily wanted to burst into tears. "You never told me to move the dinner later in the evening because there would be an issue with the church's availability! This is just another excuse of yours, Eleanor! Rehearsing the procession would not have taken more than thirty minutes!"

"Well…" Eleanor started. "_If_ we didn't rehearse those vows you insisted they write…" Eleanor was planting a seed, and Lily knew exactly what it was.

"Don't be so dense, Eleanor. The bride and the groom don't rehearse those in front of each other!" Lily said, irate. Lily knew Eleanor wanted those vows cut out in favor of the more traditional ones that she and Harold had once exchanged. But she wouldn't give in so easily. "Now what do we do for the next hour?"

Eleanor's satisfied smirked spread through her face. "Cocktails?"

* * *

"_Vows?_" Blair asked, panicked after she overheard her mother and Lily arguing again later that night, once at the church. "What vows?"

"Oh, didn't Charles tell you? Lily wanted you two to write your own vows," Eleanor said.

"We have to write vows now?" The color drained from her face, overwhelmed and suddenly feeling completely unprepared to get married.

Lily, noticing Blair's panic, took her by the hand. "Blair, darling, it was Chuck's idea to write something for the ceremony. You don't have to do anything or worry about a thing."

"It'll be ridiculous if only one of them writes vows and the other one doesn't," insisted Eleanor.

Lily ignored her. "Blair, like I said," she spoke soothingly, "Chuck just wanted to say a few words. I don't want you to panic over this."

"But how am I not going to panic when I don't know what he's going to say? What if he says something I don't want everyone to hear on our wedding day?"

Serena, seeing how agitated Blair had become, waddled towards them. "B, are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"Eleanor told Blair out of nowhere that she had to write vows, and now she's in a panic," Lily complained. "We need to find Charles."

When Chuck found her, Serena had her seated in a private powder room, waiting for him. He could see she was upset, and it made his gut knot to think of Blair changing her mind, of her realizing that she didn't want to go through with marrying him.

"Blair, what's wrong?"

Blair shook her head, in tears and wondering if she was being silly. "It's just that my mother said we had to write vows, and it made me panic because I had no idea what you were going to say, and because I don't know what I would say," she babbled.

"Are you more worried that you wouldn't know what to write for me, or about what I would write for you?" he asked. It made no sense to him, and he had to admit he was a little hurt.

"Both, I guess. I just never stopped to think about vows. I mean, I knew we'd be exchanging vows, but I've been stupid and didn't stop to think about what the whole wedding meant to me, and now I feel like I've cheated myself of a perfect wedding. And I'm scared of not knowing what you're going to say –"

"Blair. Blair, stop."

She paused and finally looked into his eyes.

"Do you feel like you're not ready to marry me?" he asked, and she could feel his words laced by hurt. "Because I won't stop loving you if you need more time. I will be there for you and our children, always. We don't need to sign papers or hold a ceremony or a party for me to love you. But I'm never letting go of you again. That mistake I made three years ago won't happen again. Not as long as you'll have me."

"Are you sure you're not trying to marry me because of Aimee and the new baby?" she asked, still incredulous as to what he'd admitted. It was just too good to be true.

"I would always find a way to be there for my children, to make sure they feel that I love them. But you – you are the love of my life. I could never be completely happy if I didn't have you."

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. "I love you," she said, admitting to him what she'd been so scared to admit to herself.

_I love you_. It felt like he'd waited an eternity to hear her say it.

"Do you want us to wait, or do you want to get married tomorrow?" he asked her. "Whatever you want, we'll do."

"Do _you_ want to be married?" she asked him, half laughing.

"I can't wait to make you Mrs. Bass," he confessed, kissing her.

"Then yes, I want to marry you," she said.

He wrapped his arms around her, and she deepened their kiss. She had never been happier being in his arms. She scooted closer to him, pressing her body to his. He pulled her onto his lap, and things got increasingly heated. She pulled his tie undone, and he lifted her skirt, wanting to feel the warmth of her skin. She wanted more from him though, and all she was getting from his touch was an increasing sense of frustration the more he turned her on.

"I need you," she whispered breathily. "We have to go somewhere."

"We'll go back to our hotel suite," he suggested, moving his lips close to the nape of her neck before trailing back up to her earlobe.

"No, my mother won't allow it tonight."

"We'll be married tomorrow; your mother doesn't have to allow for anything…"

He moved his hand up her inner thigh, making her gasp. "Aimee. She needs to be put to bed."

"Dorota can do that for us. At your mother's…"

"Okay, stop. Stop-stop-stop," she ordered him, suddenly serious.

"What's wrong?" he wondered, perplexed by how suddenly she shifted.

"If we're going to do this – and we are," she said firmly. "We need to think about how."

He reached for her again. "I thought I'd already showed you how. Remember, in the back of my limo all those years ago…"

"I mean without getting interrupted. In case you haven't noticed, that toddler you keep overindulging by letting her sleep in our bed has created a serious dry spell."

"Me? You're the one that keeps running to her the minute she cries," he retorted.

"That's not true, and it's beside the point," she said, exasperated. "My mother is expecting Aimee and I to stay at the penthouse tonight…"

"…So sneak out with me after Aimee falls asleep," he suggested.

"You mean after I fall asleep?" she replied sarcastically. Wasn't that their fate almost every night?

"Then let's sneak off now." He kissed her again, unable to contain his passion for her much longer.

"But my mom and Aimee–"

"Aimee can keep your mom busy," he said dismissively, his hand going under her dress again.

She stopped his hand from going very far. "We can't just hand her off to my mother and expect her to babysit. We're parents now, not some irresponsible horny teenagers hooking up in the back of a car. Oh, wait!" A light bulb went off in her head. "I have an idea."

He followed her out of the powder room, hoping they'd be unobserved.

"Blair?" she heard Eleanor's call out her name in a shrill voice.

"You keep walking and get the car," she whispered to him. "I'll be right there." She turned to Eleanor, "Mother, I was just on my way to get Aimee's overnight bag from the car."

"Don't be silly," Eleanor said, the idea sounding ludicrous. "Have the driver bring it up to the penthouse. Why should you have to do it yourself? In any case, Father Matthews has agreed to let us run through the rehearsal one last time."

"Yeah, I think it's time to get the kids to bed…" her voice trailed off as she tried to come up with a convincing excuse. "And I'm exhausted. And Serena – poor Serena! I feel terrible," she said. She turned to look outside the tall church doors, and could see from the corner of her eye the limo pull up to the front of the church.

"Yes, I actually feel badly for Serena. We don't want to send her into labor at this stage. The wedding _is_ tomorrow. She should be able to hold off for another day, I think. What about you, darling? Are you okay now?" she asked worriedly, pushing a loosened curl away from her face. A curl loosened by Chuck.

Blair let out a loud sigh, but couldn't help but smile when she replied. "Yes, I am – we are. We're okay." _Mummy_, she heard a little voice call for her. She turned and saw Aimee waving happily before being distracted by Benjamin, and she knew she had to make an escape before Aimee ran towards her. "I gotta go." She cleared her throat, "I mean, I'll be right back."

"Where _is_ Blair?" Eleanor asked, fifteen minutes later.

From the car she texted Serena, _'Tell Mom to take Aimee home with her.' 'We forgot her bag at the hotel. Going to pick it up.' 'Aimee needs to go to bed – stat.' 'Rehearsal's over btw.'_

They were driven around the city in his limo for a couple of glorious, child-free hours.

* * *

When they arrived at 1136 Fifth Avenue, Chuck walked Blair upstairs to the Waldorf penthouse, not ready to say goodnight at the door after feeling her finally open her heart to him. It gave him a sudden burst of adrenaline, and he did not want to part from her side, not even for one night. He wanted to hold her close, breathing in the faint traces of her scent and Chanel No.5 as they slept. And now, to watch her eat her ice cream cone so contentedly, the way she would lick, suck, and bite it…

"Blair, ice cream at this hour?" Eleanor huffed. "Don't come crying to me when the dress doesn't fit tomorrow," she complained.

"It'll fit," Blair replied, refusing to worry, the climax of the night – both literal and figuratively – putting her in too much of a good mood to care.

"Where have you two been?" Eleanor asked demandingly. "Do you know what time it is? And Aimee refuses to go to bed."

"Mummy, Daddy," Aimee whined, her arms outstretched towards them as they walked into Blair's childhood bedroom. She'd been sad, sitting up in Blair's old bed, refusing to go to sleep thinking she'd been left behind by her parents.

"My Princess…" Chuck picked her up and kissed her cheek, and his heart skipped a beat when he felt her little arms encircle his neck as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Mine daddy…"

"You can't stay here tonight," Eleanor warned him. "Say bye-bye to Daddy, Aimee."

"Non! No bah-bye," Aimee answered imperiously, pouting for her father's benefit.

"It's only one night," Eleanor warned again, her tone light-hearted. "You have 15 minutes to tuck them in. We have to be up early tomorrow, and I need my beauty sleep. Blair," she pulled her daughter close to admire her. She sighed, "I can't believe you're not my little girl anymore. I'll see you tomorrow morning." She kissed her cheek and walked out of the room, leaving the door wide, wide open.

"Okay, Princess, get into bed."

Chuck tried to set Aimee down, but she wouldn't budge, hanging onto him tightly with arms and legs until he managed to tickle her off him.

She bounced on the bed as she fell into it, giggling, but was quick to spot the ice cream cone in her mother's hand. "Maman, I wanna ice cweam," she pleaded sweetly.

Blair sighed, willingly handing over what was left of the midnight treat. "Watch her while I take a shower," Blair said to Chuck. It wasn't long before Chuck joined her.

"And Aimee?" Blair asked.

"I put a movie on for her," Chuck shrugged it off.

Blair, like everything that related to Aimee, wasn't able to do the same. She rushed through her shower and rushed out before Chuck got any other ideas.

He hurried after her, and when he emerged he was surprised by the presence of an old pair of silk pajamas he had once left behind. He found her sitting at her vanity as she brushed her hair, looking beautiful in an empire-waist nightgown, the baby bump looking bigger than it had the night before.

"Aimee fell asleep," she spoke as quietly as possible. "She fell asleep with the cone in her hands, so you can imagine the sticky mess I just had to clean up."

She was so relaxed, so happy; she was glowing. She looked up at him as she applied lotion to her legs, the smile gracing her face telling him she had no hesitations over the day ahead of them.

"So are you going to listen to my mother, or are you going to stay?" she asked with seductive mirth.

"That sounds like an invitation," he said, walking towards her.

She stood up from her vanity and met him halfway, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I want you to stay. I sleep better when I'm with you," she admitted. "But it is only one night…"

"And you should look well-rested tomorrow…" He kissed her and began tracing his way down her clavicle before reaching between her breasts.

"First, any plans you might have probably involve a lot less sleeping, and second, Aimee is sleeping here with me."

"There is the second bedroom next to us that's empty," he said, their kissing becoming increasingly heated. "And I know how much you'd love…" He whispered in her ear.

"Is that the mouth you kiss our daughter with?" Blair complained, mildly irritated by his insinuations.

"Better than the mouth you just kissed _your_ mother with," he retorted, with the very intention of reminding her of… "The way your lips…"

"Enough or I'll have my mother throw you out."

He knew it was an empty threat, part of the game. He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the other room without any further protests.

* * *

Blair was sighing contentedly to herself the next day, her arms extended out as Dorota and Eleanor dressed her. Her mother had pitched a fit that morning when she found Chuck sleeping next to her, yelling at them for not waiting just a single night, but Blair didn't care. Last night had been the happiest of her life, and she didn't want to ever fall asleep without him. In fact, she was brash enough to tell her mother that Chuck had had to stay, or she would never have fallen asleep. And she did need her sleep, after all.

"Cinch it tighter, Dorota, tighter! I want people to see her tiny waist from behind as she walks up the aisle."

"Miss Blair pregnant with second baby. Nobody has tiny waist at wedding when you in second trimester with second baby. I can't go tighter or she pass out halfway down aisle from lack of oxygen," Dorota protested.

"Oh, here, move." She pushed Dorota out of the way, exasperated, and yanked on the stays of the corset lining the dress.

"Ouch!" Blair complained. "Don't do it so tight. Chuck won't like it if he sees it's too tight."

"Maybe he should have thought of that before taking you out for ice cream at midnight the night before the wedding," Eleanor said as she adjusted the back of the dress. "Or getting you pregnant. Again." She pulled on the stays one more time for emphasis before tying them and tucking the ends. "There," she said, satisfied with the back of the dress. "Dorota, finish buttoning up the back of the dress. I'll go check on the children."

Just as soon as Eleanor was out of sight, Dorota loosened the dress, but was then unable to button it up. Frustrated, she swore in Polish at Blair for precisely the same reason Eleanor had berated her a moment ago. She passed the task along to Serena while she bent down to spread the skirt.

Aimee ran into the room in full wedding garb. "Mummy, looky my dess!" she showed off. It was an overly ornamented marshmallow cloud, with an overpuffed tea-length skirt, lace trimmings and a big pink bow that covered most of her back. Something only a two year old as adorable as she could ever pull off. And underneath it all, she was wearing her black patent-leather mary janes.

"Aimee, come back for your shoes!" Eleanor called out to her from the nursery.

Aimee used the vanity chair as a prop to jump on top of the bed, far away from her grand-maman. "Mummy, you a pincess!" Aimee announced, happily jumping up and down on the bed, her curls resting on the top of her head bouncing with her. She plopped herself down on the bed, her skirts falling over her head as she giggled uncontrollably.

"Aimee, there you are! You cannot wear those black shoes," Eleanor said, walking in with brand new shoes in her hand. "Come here."

"Non!" Aimee protested as she tried to roll over to the other side of the bed, her little arms and legs flailing as the cumbersome dress got in the way.

Serena took over, pulling Aimee to the edge of the bed and sitting her up. "No, _you're_ the princess. Your mommy is the queen. And the queen said you have to wear the princess slippers, otherwise you'll have to take off your princess dress."

"Like Cinewella?" Aimee asked.

Serena took the shoes from Eleanor and began putting them on her niece. "Yes, like Cinderella. Cinderella needed to wear her slippers to be a princess, remember? And Cinderella's shoes weren't black, so we have to put the white ones on…"

Blair had barely acknowledged Serena's presence in the room, but seeing her play with Aimee brought back memories of when they were girls and used to play dress up. Of all the times they pretended they were getting married and planned their weddings throughout the years. When they were too young to be selfish they'd wanted a double wedding, and their grooms would have to be identical twins, so that they never had to argue about whose was the most handsome, and they would all be equally rich and fabulous.

And once they were old enough to realize that they would need to have a separate wedding because their dress choices would clash, they still knew they would be there for each other. But Blair hadn't been at Serena's elopement, as they'd once promised, and she'd ignored the invitation to her wedding reception after. And yet Serena was here with her, despite long silences and lack of eye contact, helping Blair get in her dress and her daughter in the right shoes. Serena had done her sisterly duty in helping make everything perfect, but it was as Chuck's sister and not hers. It was nothing like the wedding day they'd pictured as girls.

"Thank you," Blair choked out.

"I'm sorry, what?" Serena asked, distracted by Aimee's giggles as she was trying to tie her shoes.

Blair cleared her throat. "I said thank you. For helping. With Aimee. She's very stubborn about her shoes."

Serena stood Aimee up on the bed and fluffed out her dress. "You're welcome. I'm always happy to spend time with my beautiful and adorable niece," she said, kissing a chubby cheek.

Blair observed how at ease Aimee always seemed to be with Serena, and it made the jealousy rise in her for a second. But it dawned on her that Serena had always been sweet and adoring to Aimee, so why would she not like her? And here she was, helping her get dressed when she herself was tired and bloated and forty-two weeks pregnant. And then there was all the running around Serena had done at the rehearsal, and all of the planning that she herself hadn't done. Eleanor didn't know half of what she'd wanted her wedding to be, and somehow she was still getting everything.

"And thank you – for everything you've done."

Eleanor moved Blair's head to face forward so she could place the veil correctly, completely ignoring the exchange happening between the two former best friends.

"Oh, Blair, you are _so_ beautiful." Eleanor admired her as she extended her veil. "Remember, don't walk too fast. And suck your stomach in, at least during the ceremony, and try not to look so indecently pregnant. Although god knows we're not fooling anyone…" she mumbled under her breath. "Alright, we need to get going, or we'll be late. Blair, you will be in the car with your father, and Aimee will come with me."

"Non!" Aimee protested, as she'd protested anything her grandmother had suggested for her that day. "I go width ma maman," she pouted.

"I'll take her," Serena offered.

Eleanor didn't argue, she just knew she'd have one less toddler to deal with. "Perfect. Serena, darling, you've been such a help through all of this. I don't think we'd be pulling this of so perfectly without you. Thank you. Blair, have you thanked Serena for everything she's done?"

"She did, Eleanor," Serena said.

Blair had the sudden urge to hug her, but Eleanor was pulling her out of the room. "Lift that dress up gently, Dorota," Eleanor barked, and Dorota was grateful to be working for Mr. Chuck and Miss Blair now.

* * *

Blair might have held a very, very small hand at planning her wedding, but – between Eleanor, Lily and Serena – everything turned out just as she wanted it to be, from the peonies in full bloom to the candlelit church at sundown. What Blair might not have known, though, was just how big a role Chuck had played in making sure she had the wedding of her dreams. He'd sent Eleanor approved wedding dress sketches, flower arrangements and a guest list, all tailored exactly to Blair's tastes.

Of course, he hadn't had much time to consider that guest list, so when he saw Dan Humphrey take a seat in the third pew on the left side of the church as he and Nate walked to the back room, he bristled a little.

"I didn't realize we'd have this many Humphreys at my wedding," Chuck said, almost with a sneer.

"Well, Rufus is Lily's husband, and you didn't expect her to not bring her two youngest children when Benjamin was chosen as ring bearer," Nate pointed out, rather rhetorically.

"I was talking about Dan," Chuck said impatiently. "But I suppose we're all family now, even if he can't remember what side of the church to sit in."

"Well, Blair's needed as many people on her side as she could get these last few years. I guess it stopped her from being picky," Nate reminded him. He stupidly continued, "You're really lucky, bro. It really looked like you had royally fucked things up with her permanently. But maybe this is a sign that you guys were always meant to be. I mean, she probably had the perfect situation with Dan. She had someone that was supportive, who loved her daughter, and was there for both of them in good and hard times. And even then she picks you. You're the one she's going to marry."

Chuck felt his face fall. Yes, he was the one she was marrying, but he'd yet to do much to deserve it – and the shameful reminder that there'd been someone else that maybe _had_ was a slap in the face.

Lily, having listened to most of the exchange between the young men and observed the frown that formed on Chuck's face as Nate walked out, went to her son immediately.

"The ceremony is about to start," Lily said. She stood at the doorframe before walking towards him with a caring smile on her face. "You look so handsome, Charles." She moved to straighten his bow tie, adjusting its appearance. "You're not too nervous, I hope? I promise you, everything will go perfectly."

It didn't seem to shake off his worry, though; she could tell.

"I'm just so happy that you and Blair have finally gotten to a happy place together," she began, trying to put his mind at ease." That doesn't mean that either of you should think that the past never happened and all is forgotten," she acknowledged. "But it definitely does mean you've both taken steps in the right direction. And look how wonderful it's turning out: you're a family, you love each other, and you're getting married."

"Do you think Blair has forgiven me, though?" he wondered in a pained voice.

She smiled that smile that followed the sigh she sometimes gave him before answering. "It's not all or nothing. This is a good start," she assured him. "You don't have to forget the past to move forward."

"But how can you move forward when you're saddled with the consequences of the past?"

"And how can you expect to be happy if you are always atoning for past sins? Blair obviously has moved on from all of that. Would she be marrying you now if she hadn't? Would you two be expecting another baby?" she asked him.

He wasn't sure everything happening now was due to Blair's forgiveness, but Chuck loved and appreciated Lily for the motherly kindness she always showed him. And if he'd had reason to doubt Blair's feelings for him, those doubts had been cleared the night before. He took Lily's hand and kissed it appreciatively.

"Come; I saw the bridal limousine arrive a few minutes ago, and you don't want to keep Blair waiting."

They left and got into the processional line after the guests were seated. Aimee, seeing her daddy, tried to run towards him and unexpectedly tripped on her long puffy dress, making everyone gasp aloud. Carter acted quickly enough to catch her and set her back on her feet as everyone yelled for her to not run.

"Daddy!" she cried for him, her arms extended.

He tried to sneak a look at Blair, but she was getting her dress skirt adjusted after exiting the car, and the people standing in between blocked most of his view.

"Daaaaaaaaddyyyyyyyyy!" she demanded his attention again.

"Oh, yes, Princess?" he asked, refocusing. "Where is your petal basket? Do you remember what you have to do? You walk in front of Mommy and throw your petals, alright?"

"Non, no walk," she said to him, suddenly getting pouty. It was getting close to her nap time.

"Aww, yes. Look at your pretty dress. People want to see you walk in your pretty dress," he said, encouragingly. He set her down on her feet and went in search for her basket. "I'm going to be in the front, and you are going to walk in front of Mommy–"

"Non, no walk width Mummy!" Aimee cried.

"Okay-okay-okay. I'm going to go stand in the front," he pointed towards the altar, "And then you walk to me."

No. Aimee would not settle for anything less than walking down the aisle holding her daddy's hand, flower girl duties be damned. But she was so happy walking with him, and when the wedding march started, nothing could have made him happier than waiting for Blair at the altar with their two year old right next to him.

When Serena slowly waddled to her place, she wondered if the church had stretched over night, the walk longer than she'd remembered it the night before. Though she supposed that any woman forty-two weeks pregnant would find a walk in high heels extenuatingly long. And all this she was doing for a former friend whom at times she very much doubted appreciated all of the effort she had gone through. Still, she smiled as she past the throng of guests.

Blair's momentary anxieties came to a peak as she and Harold were left to walk the procession. She looked around towards their guests, noticing a few snickering quietly to each other. But she just looked ahead and didn't care. She knew where Chuck's heart lay, and that was all that mattered. She saw him waiting there, with Aimee standing next to him, innocently playing with her petals, and it was all she needed to keep her step from faltering.

To Chuck, she was the vision of an angel, soft and ethereal as she floated towards him. There was a perfect demureness in her, the same that had made her irresistible at sixteen, with the tiny capped laced sleeves that looked to be barely holding in place, and the airy silk of her dress that seemed to billow with her small steps. The delicate Cartier diamond necklace added a glow to her face every time she took a breath, light reflecting through the strand of small diamonds. He'd been afraid to look into her eyes at first, fearful of finding insecurity in them, but one look at her smile told him she wasn't nervous or in doubt of the step they were about to take.

When she finally reached him and Harold handed her over, all he made out from the priest's words was _Dearly beloved_, before the rest turned into a jumble of words. She replied with an _"I will"_ as her declaration of consent, snapping him back into attention.

He kept turning to glance at her, not able to keep his attention on the ceremony and its rituals for very long. When the priest turned his back for a moment, Chuck managed to steal a quick kiss, surprising Blair and making their guests laugh. The priest never knew what caused the distraction in his otherwise solemn ceremony, but figured it might have something to do with the child that was currently hiding under the front pew.

When Aimee saw Benjamin playing hide and seek, she jumped off her bon-papa's lap, but both were quickly reprimanded by the adults. Aimee, not happy after being hissed at by Harold, pulled away from his grasp stubbornly and ran to her daddy, unaware of the important event she was interrupting. She was happy sitting on Chuck's lap quietly, but they were quickly instructed to stand again, and at that point Aimee did not see how inappropriate it was to raise her mother's dress and peek beneath her skirts. At that point Serena took charge of her, and Aimee was happy to comply in her new role of co-bridesmaid, so long as she got to hold onto Serena's bouquet.

After exchanging vows and being pronounced husband and wife, Chuck went on to try and kiss Blair but was quickly stopped and told to stop getting ahead of himself.

For Chuck it felt like things went on and on pointlessly. They'd already been pronounced husband and wife! After more mindless prayers, they were asked to kneel for the blessing. It wasn't until many more Amen's later that they were asked to rise and, to Chuck's surprise, he was given permission to kiss his bride.

He wrapped his arm around her waist as he pulled her body towards himself and pressed his lips to hers and her hand went to cradle his face lovingly as their guests cheered.

"I love you," she whispered to him, looking into his eyes before kissing him again.

It made his heart swell. She trusted him enough to love him.

"I promised you," he said, reminding her of their conversation the night before. "I love you."

She didn't take his arm, instead reaching for his hand and intertwining her fingers with his. He kissed her again reverently, a firm seal of the promises and vows they had just made. They began walking down the aisle, when they heard a splash from behind and noticed their guests staring. Blair looked back, remembering Aimee was with Serena.

"You goin' potty?" Aimee asked innocently as she and Serena were soon standing in a large pool of liquid.

"Oh, no…" Serena cried. "My water broke."


End file.
